dalemilam58

Thanks Gene,
The plane was partially build by my father-in-law...as I was going thru the already built parts which is everything except the tail fin and rudder. He used a wrong stick for one of the leading edges, but I dont think it won't be a problem. There are no ailerons so I'm going to cut the trailing edge (pre shaped) off at the last spar and make strip ailerons from the cutoff pieces...another thought do I decrease the dihedral? Ive read that some have taken it almost all out...does this change the flying characteristics of the plane? I thought about flaps but probably not. As far as a tail dragger I would like to see so pics of other tail draggers so I can copy them...unless they have a copyright to their design lol...and what type and size of fuel tank will fit..it calls for 8oz-10oz, but I'm sure larger sizes will fit...and being new to 'gassers' will a regular sullivan tank work or does it have to be a special tank for the gas..more questions to follow

SeamusG

Prop clearance needs to be there when the plane is horizontal unless the pilot can nail 3-point landings each and every time. Just thinkin' out loud ...

gene6029

dalemilam58, here's afew of my taildragger......Gene

gene6029

Two more.......Gene

gene6029

Hopefully you can see the amount of diheadral i have, the placement of the landing gear & tail wheel. I can explain the tailwheel in detail if need be.....Gene

dalemilam58

Still undecided on the engine...may just get a 70-91 4stroke and keep it in the plane, I have a 7 year old grandson(daughters) and 21 yr old twin boys that may want to learn on it...I would still like more info on the tail wheel and how much forward are the front gears...and do you think the strip ailrons will be good enough without making barndoors...and should they come within an inch of the fuselage...or more or less? will probably put about 1 1/2 to 2 inch of dihedral...thoughts?

gene6029

No problem, here goes, On my tail wheel i glued a piece of light ply accross the bottom of the fuse. I then drilled a hole up thru the ply & fuse & stabilizer. I inserted a piece of carbon fiber hollow rod into the hole & glued it.( see pics) Then, i mounted an aftermarket tail wheel assembly to the plywood with screws. I took a straight piece of 4-40 wire & ran it up thru the hole & bent it over 90 degrees gust above the stab. Next i drilled a hole in the bottom of the rudder about 1" into it. I epoxied the wire into the hole in the rudder at the same time i CA'd on the rudder to its hinges. At the bottom of the wire i just bent it over to adapt to a tailwheel i had in my shop. Once finished the tailwheel swings along with the rudder.

I moved the main gear foreward to the former just below the windscreen pillar (see pics), I left the old landing gear block where they were & made another just like the original and epoxied it in. The gear can easily be returned to the original location in a matter of min. if i want to return to a tricycle gear. (i left in the nose gear block)

We have several flying around here with strip ailerons and they fly fine, (especially for a trainer) The distance you stop them next to the fuse in not critical.

The amount of diheadral isnt really critical either, 1-1/2-2" should be fine. ( mine has 2" & i demonstrate its stability by setting the transmitter on the ground while the plane just floats around overhead on a calm day)

A 70 4 strke would fly the plane just fine, like i said, mine has an OS 40 LA & we fly it around at half throttle.

It got a work out two weekends ago when over 50 kids got a chance to fly it on a buddy box for a group the club invites every year. I wish i would have kept track of how many kids have flown this Kadet over the last 5 years or so....

Hope this answers your some of questions about the Kadet. Im really glad to see this much interest in the ol girl, its a winner!!!!....Gene

SeamusG

I got "cute" when I converted my Senior ARF to a tail dragger - I used a pull-pull from the rudder servo.

dalemilam58

I've never set up a pull/pull system...any tricks to know?

Tee Bee

It doesn't show very well in this old pic but I used a Great Planes Scale tailwheel and a pull-pull cable setup to the rudder servo. It's mounted to a 1//16" plywood plate on the fuse bottom. The cables are set up nice and loose. This has worked flawlessly for 3.5 years and countless hours of flying.

dalemilam58

is this hooked up to the same servo the rudder is? and is the rudder a pull/pull?

gene6029

Yes there are a few things to make pull pull easy. One thing that comes to mind is to keep where the rudder horns/pull/pull wires connect, right on the hinge line of the rudder & fin. This will keep one side from going slack. Another is to keep the width of the horns at the rudder the same width as the horns on the servo,(it does same as above.) There are other variations on this but these will get ya started. It is not necessary to keep the servo horn the same width, but it keeps ya from getting into offset servo horn geometry..Gene

gene6029

Tee Bee,.....Good taste in motorcycles......Gene

Tee Bee

Thanks, Gene. I ride other brands as well but have always had a strong fondness for H-Ds.

My rudder has the traditional balsa pushrod and control horn setup. The pull-pull cables are on the tailwheel only. All connected to the same servo.

dalemilam58

thanks..I may go with the golden rod type pushrods

Carlos G

Hi Dalemiliam58,

I have found that the golden rods will work but, as temperature changes, the rods will expand and contract. The airplane's trim changes with the plastic rods and so you end up retrimming your plane as this happens. Your trim can change from the cool temps of the morning to the warm temps of the afternoon. I like the fact that the trim with pull-pull cables on the rudder and a arrowshaft pushrod remain unchanged with temperature swings.

The pull-pull cables if they are set up correctly also have nearly zero slop which means more postive control of the model. There will be always a little bit of play in the controls using golden rod due to their flexible design. This will give sort of a loose feel around neutral and a slight amount of lag as the servo takes up the end play in the golden rod before the model's control surface begins to actually move.

On a model like the Senior Kadet, this lag really wont be noticed much unless one has flown a model with really slop-free controls. I have be given compliments as to how well my Kadet seems to handle. The response of the model is sharp and positive which seems to make it more fun to fly. I only have rudder, elevator and throttle on my model.

There are pictures of my plane on posts 168 showing the connections at the tail wheel and post 250 showing the rudder connections of this thread.

Have fun with your Kadet and post some pictures of it please.

Carlos G.

AeroncaChamp18

My Feedback: (14)

Hey ? Still need a picture of my Senior kadet next to me? Charlesjavascript:void(AddText('','_image/s4.gif'))

SigMan

My Feedback: (21)

i had the blue and white ARF. what s sweet plane to fly. i sold a couple years ago and now im kicking my self in da Butt ! if i had it back i would put the DLE 20 in it.


"I may not be able to turn a kit into a plane, but I can turn a plane into a kit..."

dalemilam58

Thanks to all for the help and tips...I actually got some building done last night ...took all wekend to set up spare room as a build room, but once done and the table(hollow core door)was down I picked up with building the tail and rudder...most of the plane was already built, now I have to do a little deconstructing and cut the trailing edge strip from the wings to turn them into ailerons...take about 4" of diredral out then glue together...then repair storage damage...ordered covering going with an orange, teal, and black theme...will try to post pics. Still not sure on motor yet...I found an ASP 91fs for $155, but thinking about giving the plane, once I'm done with it to a club for a trainer. guess I could pull the motor and let them put on thier own...

Cliff Ozier

The .91 on mine is just too much. most time it is running at 1/4 pwr and it is blasting around the field.
I'm not kidding. If I were to make a lap at full pwr I sure something would come off. [sm=spinnyeyes.gif]
Another problem is torque roll, even at low pwr this thing wants to roll left badly,
I have a serious amount of aileron and rudder trim, at first I thought the wings where warped but
they checked out. The right thrust angle needs to be increased, it has only stock setting good for
smaller motors. A .40-.45 motor is really best for this thing, maybe a .52 4stroker, Plenty of power
and much less weight. It is difficult to idle the motor low enough without shutting it down to land.
Making it worse is mine is overweight with the 91 (24oz) the 4oz prop nut needed for balance plus
8-10 oz lead. AND the motor is spaced out to the front an extra 1/4" and all the way to the end
of the motor mount. All of this weight really hoses the flight characteristics.
A good flying plane is light plane. I'll get some pics to explain why it is so tail heavy.

Would someone please post a pic of the CG point on the plans. (I do not have the plans)

regards, Cliff
.

gene6029

Off the top of my head, i believe its on the main spar

gene6029

I started there, double click on the pic to see my CG...Gene

Tee Bee

IMO, a lot of people overpower the Senior. With it's .40LA and a 10x6 prop, mine will land super slow at a full stall on 3 points(taildragger). It can be flown in a very tight pattern close to the ground shooting several touch-n-goes a minute, sipping fuel at low throttle settings most of the time. Fun stuff. The only time I wish for more power is when I haul my RC skydiver to altitude. That takes some time due to the added weight and drag. A larger engine would be in order if that was the plane's primary duty.

I run a .91 4-stroke on my Four Star 60 and absolutely love it but couldn't imagine that much power and torque on my mild-mannered Senior. [X(]

SigMan

My Feedback: (21)

i ran a 61 -90 4 stroke in mine and loved it... sounded so sweet on low flyby's.

dalemilam58

I am still not completely sure on the strip aileron hook ups...back in the day I used some with bell cranks and others with steel rods bent into the aileron and hooked up under the wing inside the fuslage...and pics of someone putting these in would be a great help...been along time and new things are out there so just wanna be sure